The Big Reveal: We're Doing Europe and MOVING {True Confession}

After months and months of planning, thinking and praying Le Husband and I have decided we are going to leave the Northern Virginia area for Knoxville, Tennessee. And before we take the final leap we are taking time off this spring and spending 29 days in Europe. HOLY COW, is this real life?!?! #forrealisthisreallife

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Talk about a confession, huh? Yup, I've been keeping this lil secret for quite awhile and finally feel the clarity and faith to share it here on the blog. A little backstory if you will. After a lot of hemming and hawing and praying Le Husband and I decided back in October that even if opportunities didn't come our way we would quit our jobs and move by spring 2016. Scary right? Then in November Le Husband floated the idea of using the time after we quit our jobs to finally go and see Europe. Honestly I was quite skeptical of the idea because even though it's always been a dream it's an EXPENSIVE dream. Immediately I reached out to friends who have traveled in Europe [oh hey BOFF and Kristen] and peppered them with "Is this really possible?" questions. After realizing it was actually quite possible Le Husband and I developed a plan. We decided to use my yearly bonus [which he would match] as our budget and we'd travel for as long as we could and see as much of the continent as possible.

Remember that Wanderlust post about the Mediterranean? So I was sneaky when I posted because we are going to make that trip happen. Our cruise is booked and we are finishing up our itinerary for the rest of the trip through France, Germany and Italy. To say I'm stoked would be an understatement. To say I'm overwhelmed would also be an understatement. There is so much to see over there and we are still struggling to try and fit everything into our trip. We are both HUGE WW2 history nerds so we are tailoring our trip around battles and history more so than normal sight seeing adventures [I AM SO EXCITED TO VISIT NORMANDY]. This promises to be a trip of a lifetime and I'm so looking forward to seeing another part of the world and enjoying new sights, foods and adventures with Le Husband.

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Speaking of adventure, let's talk a little about our BIG move. We return from our jaunt through Europe and promptly three days later we will drive down to Knoxville to begin our new life. Luckily I have family in the area so we will be staying with them while we search for our perfect rental or home. This is a BIG deal. I'll be moving away from my immediate family and even though it's only an eight hour drive I've been within 20 minutes of my family since I graduated from college [Ten YEARS, holy cow]. Most of me is excited to really go and stand on my own two feet [with Le Husband] but there is a lil bit of me that is sad I'll be so far away when I achieve new milestones. Yet I feel this IS the right thing to do, even if it turns out to be only a short time away. We are ready for a slower pace of life and the ability to have a home with land without paying a bazillion dollars. Change is scary and as excited as I am for this new step there is a bit also a bit of fear.

How are you going to swing this you ask? For the time being Le Husband will continue to work for his company and will keep his same territory while I use our change to finally figure out what I want to be when I grow up. There are multiple opportunities in the area and I've begun revamping my resume which is scary as all get out. If I'm honest I would LOVE to find a job in the fitness world and continue to get certified in LES MILLS programs to parlay that into a career and not just a hobby. Who knows where the job search will lead, but I'm HOPEFUL it will be the start of something great. #takeachance

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Maybe you think I'm silly for waiting so long to break the news and maybe you think I'm a bit ridiculous for holding back, but you know what, that's okay. I've become less frivolous in my declarations. I don't normally share news unless I know it's 99.9% [hello BODYPUMP certification]. I hate failing at anything and this will be the third time Le Husband and I have tried to up and move. Each time life happened and we had to put our plans on hold which became incredibly frustrating and deflating. Part of me just wanted to throw in the towel and settle for the fact we weren't going to be able to follow this dream and to just buck up about living in this area forever. But we kept praying and realized this was something we had to do so we just went for it. We don't know what the future holds but we know we want to try.

Things became real last week when I had my review and dropped the 'I'm leaving' bomb on my boss. It went MUCH better than expected and he was quite supportive. Now that work knows I feel better about sharing it here on the Internet for everyone to see. Not that anyone I work with knows about the blog but you can never been too careful right? So there you have it friends, the big secret I've been keeping off the blog for the past six months. There are QUITE a few posts in drafts where I just had to spill my guts somewhere because things were still so up in the air. They might make it here, they might not, but for now I'm happy to be at the stage of sharing it with my blog land friends. Things in pinkland are about to get CRAZY busy as we start packing up our life, saying goodbye to our friends whilst packing our suitcases for the trip of a lifetime. Sleep will probably become a luxury but you know what, that's okay. I'm excited this is finally happening and I CAN'T WAIT to see where life takes us. Cheers to taking the leap and trying something NEW!

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So now, tell me the best way to quickly learn Italian and French and give me your MUST sees!

linking up with Jess for confessions and Kristin for whatsnewwithyou

&with  Natalie & Kristin